Model United Nations

Negotiating 'Pathways to Peace'

At the beginning of term 3 we, as the year 10 level captains, were invited to participate in the Model United Nations, an event organized by the United Nations Association of Australia. It was an accurate replica of the UN General Assembly; a great way to learn about international diplomacy. The event was open for students in years 9 to 12 but consisted mostly of senior school students. A total of 5 schools had participated in the event, all around Melbourne’s inner north.

In groups of 3-4, students played the role of a country’s ‘delegates’, speaking and acting on their behalf. We were given the nation of Japan, which opened doors for plenty of discussion around current geopolitical tensions. 

The given topic for the assembly was ‘Pathways to Peace’, accompanied by a list of goals and proposals that us delegates had to discuss and change. As you could imagine, many countries had disagreeing views on each topic. There was both inspiring cooperation and fiery division among the delegates, a truly great taste of what a career in politics is like. 

Much gratitude has to be given to everyone who took part in the event, putting in full effort to immerse themselves as representatives of their countries, and bearing their countries’ views. Everyone had so much to add to the discussion while we only had so much time, which pushed us to find the best way to articulate ourselves meaningfully.

The Model UN helped us realize that no opinions are wrong. Everyone was acting in their nation’s interest, whether those aligned with Pathways to Peace or not. Today, opinions are often ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.  This phenomenon goes from Hawaiian pizza to international diplomacy. We increasingly reinforce our own views as correct while demonizing anyone who believes otherwise. Throughout the event, we learnt that good diplomacy involves working alongside others and coming to compromises, even if that meant agreeing to disagree on some topics.

We are truly grateful to be able to participate in such an insightful event. We want to thank the United Nations Association of Australia for providing such an opportunity, all the fellow member states for putting in the effort, and the host, Coburg High School.

~Lachlan MacLean, on behalf of the Year 10 captains